magnaspark

Motocarlo, I haven't tried their crank trigger, but a few of us have had good luck with the Magnaspark II dizzy. I had a Pertronix 009 clone that had pretty nasty spark scatter, making the transition from idle up to 2500 pretty ragged.

The Magnaspark's mechanical advance mechanism seems more robust than the Chinese 009 clones, and this one cleaned up the spark scatter I had before.

I don't think the improvement comes from the electronic module so much, but from the fact that the mechanical advance bits are better, and maybe more consistent from one unit to the next, than any of the 009 clones. The advance curve is somewhat adjustable, too, (using different sets of springs supplied), although I just used the stock setting on my mild, 2-liter stroker.

That said, the Magnaspark is also made in China and there's some talk that it's the same piece that's marketed by Pertronix as their 'Billet' model (and maybe also the same as a similar unit from MSD).

Another caveat is that the Magnaspark has been 'out of stock' at CBP for some time now.

At any rate, I've been happy with mine.

I think the Magnaspark should be back some time soon. I know Pat Downs was fine-tuning it and apparently it will be back soon -- and better than ever. 

I have a CB Crank Trigger setup on my 2332 Type I, though I've not had the pleasure of driving the car quite yet. That said, from what Pat has told me, it has been a pretty reliable little device with few issues overall.

I can assure you the magnaspark distributor is not the same piece as the Pertronix and also Msd. 

The new Magnaspark is totally redesigned. The ignition module was redesigned to give even more stable spark output with increased dwell at higher rpm. The distributor housing was  modified and will be available in a black anodized finish or the standard polished aluminum finish. Also, you will be able to order the the new magnaspark with a red or black cap. The black base with the black cap will look nice for the guys looking for an OE 356 look. Look for the magnaspark to be back in stock around early November.

   Now about crank trigger. There is nothing better and it’s money well spent in my opinion. Zero moving parts, exact timing no matter what rpm, adjustable advance based on load/rpm, not a linear advance rate like mechanical advance of a distributor. You also have a few GPO’s for an oil cooler fan, shift lite, two step rev limiter if you ever drag race and an adjustable high end rev limiter . Allot of stuff for not that much in cost. 

As usual you guys are a big help. Thanks so much.

So now which one?

At CB they have listed 2008 ,2000, 2010 , 2014 and 2016.
Not wanting to get into a lot of programming , since this is a roadster in the truest sense,  (I have other fast cars), I am leaning towards the 2010, which is pre-set but still adjustable if needed. Simplicity is what I want.
What do you think?

http://www.cbperformance.com/M...ment-Parts-s/218.htm

Also the info says will not work with old style fuel pump. I have a electronic rotary fuel pump and a block off plate on the 1600 block. I assume they mention this for mounting  purposes. But in reading the installation, I did not see anything about that.

Hummm?

If you can, I would wait and buy the 2010 kit. This kit includes the magnaspark distributor, coil, plug wires and billet coil mount. You can’t beat the price and the performance of the new magnaspark is amazing.

Motocarlo, if you haven't figured it out, 'BIGPOWER' is the screen name of Pat Downs, so he would know about Magnaspark product details better than anyone.

If I'm reading his post right, the old Magnaspark is no longer available and is soon to be replaced with a new model.

In the past, the various 'kits' have all contained the same distributor, just packaged with other bits - plug wires, ignition coil, mounting hardware, etc. It sounds like the same will be true with the new model.

The old dizzy was made to work with an existing 'Bosch-style' coil, but is advertised to work better with CB's own 'dry' coil (no internal oil bath). I tried using mine with my old coil and it works great.

If you have a Bosch-style distributor now, you will need to get new wires, as the connectors for the wires on the Magnaspark are different.

And, if your old fuel pump port is blocked off, you should have no fitment problems. There were two styles of mechanical pump, the older of which interfered with installing a Magnaspark (which is larger in diameter than a Bosch dizzy).

I have the pack that Pat suggested above. I purchased it in 2016. Super happy. No regrets.

Sucks that I have to sell it for the black on black version in November. 

I guess I should change my screen name to my real name. But, I was given the nickname “BigPower” many years ago. When you work in an industry that remembers you by how fast you are, I like to use it when ever I can😁.  I designed the magnaspark distributor, you can’t go wrong using it.

OK ; again big help everyone.
Pat , thanks. I can certainly wait until the 2010 is available. Looking forward to giving it a try.

"The older I get, the faster I was."  

Certainly true for my motorcycle track stories.  :-)

Here's some BIGPOWER for you:

MotoCarlo posted:

OK ; again big help everyone.
Pat , thanks. I can certainly wait until the 2010 is available. Looking forward to giving it a try.

"The older I get, the faster I was."  

Certainly true for my motorcycle track stories.  :-)

Actually, the older I get the faster I am. Traveled back east to Farmington NC last October and ran the fastest pass in VW Pro Stock history setting a new national 1/8 mile record at 5.90 seconds. I plan on going faster in 2019. 

Yikes! 

BigPower posted:

MotoCarlo posted:

OK ; again big help everyone.
Pat , thanks. I can certainly wait until the 2010 is available. Looking forward to giving it a try.

"The older I get, the faster I was."  

Certainly true for my motorcycle track stories.  :-)

Actually, the older I get the faster I am. Traveled back east to Farmington NC last October and ran the fastest pass in VW Pro Stock history setting a new national 1/8 mile record at 5.90 seconds. I plan on going faster in 2019. 

I couldn’t find anything more recent except for the top video which was 2018. Buy your son a drone so he can capture all the good stuff. 

Well, Pat @BigPower  This thread sold me, the kit has arrived (please thank Marieanne)  and I'll be installing in the next two weeks, depending on weather.  

I have been running an original Magna Spark since 1999, so I have a question for those of you who've already installed the newer Magna Spark II:

Are you running the light silver springs and red stop bushing right out of the box or has anyone been playing with advance springs and total advance stop?  I'm just curious, as that's what I'll start with and may be playing with things on a Sun Distributor machine in a couple of months when Hot Rod Charlie returns from Florida (it's his Sun machine that I get to use).

Also, can I use an MSD rotor with this base and cap?  Is it the same rotor as a GM HEI 4-cylinder cap?  Just want a spare to toss into the spares kit.  I might just take what came with it and see what they have at NAPA.

Thanks,  Gordon

Gordon, I used whatever springs and bushing were installed out of the box, and that has worked well.

If I recall, that gives the max advance range (greatest difference between idle and full advance). I think that range is still less than the range on a typical 009. So if you set max advance to, say, 30 degrees, the idle advance will be a little more than with the 009.

I remember looking around online for alternate sources for caps and rotors, and the pictures I found of MSD rotors, for example, looked a little different than the rotor shipped with the dizzy (I think the contact piece was shaped a little different).

I called CB, and they sent me a spare cap and rotor set.

If you find the right parts at NAPA, let us know.

I installed mine just as it came out of the box. I'd be curious as to your findings on the Sun machine whenever you get a chance to play with it.

On my previous motor I used the Magnaspark as it came in the box. Later Pat and I were hanging out working on Teby's car and I mentioned some popping with my carbs. We tried to switch out the jets but that didn't help and we put the original jets back in. We swapped out the springs (to the light blue I think) so my car hit max advance quicker and that stopped the popping. It made the car much quicker off the line and it didn't affect top speed. On my new build the springs are set as it came out of the box.

Initially I used my original Magnaspark with the original springs and I've since switched to the newest Magnaspark II with the black cap and the springs that are shipped pre-installed in the dizzy.

Thank you, gentlemen.

I'll toss it in right out of the box.

I'll probably install the new Magna Spark II coil, too, just so everything is equally new, and reset the baseline.  Should be a fun experiment.

Carlos:  Anything in particular you would like to know from the Sun machine experiment?  I can baseline it with the out-of-the-box springs and bushing and graph that, then mess around with different spring combinations to see how they graph.  Changing stop bushings should be pretty straight-forward and predictable, too.

Anything else??  I won't get to this until May when Charlie returns (he's a snow-bird).  

Just wondering what curves are possible and which one of those curves the brain trust thinks would be good for my 2276.

Carlos G posted:

Just wondering what curves are possible and which one of those curves the brain trust thinks would be good for my 2276.

Take a look at this and see if it helps:

http://cbperformance.net/pdf/M...InstructionSheet.pdf